Are you an analog player living in a digital world?

5 Signs this may be you

You miss the days when you could just pick up the phone and call a prospect.

You are still going to tradeshows hoping that by showing up, you will immediately find customers.

You remember the days when email was a replacement for sending inter-office memos.

You are still startled when someone outside of your family texts you to communicate something.

You still have your sales team searching for leads but have ignored your website or social media as sales tools.

I’ll be the first one to admit it; I really miss being able to call people on the phone. I miss taking clients out for lunch. I still remember when you could ignore your inbox because if anyone really wanted a response from you, they’d call.

It’s time to shake up your money maker…

Times have changed. People have changed. Buyers have changed. There are three truths we have to accept. There is no going back. There is no putting the Genie back in the bottle.

People want instant gratification. If they have a problem, they want to “Google” it and find a solution. Right. Now.

People expect more. They want your website to be mobile-optimized when they are looking up your company online, at night in their pj’s. They want to quickly understand what you can do for them. (See point #1)

People have no time. The most precious commodity for a business person these days is time. We want to search, skim and move on if an immediate connection is not made.

For today’s B2B Marketers, this makes our lives more difficult than ever. Sure people have always cared about “what’s in it for me,” been impatient and time-starved but the internet era has multiplied these issues. We expect more. NOW.

So what does this mean to companies today?

First, it means your website is your best sales tool. So a website mapped out with the buyer journey in mind will win. It is not easy to build, but for companies that take the time to figure out their ideal customer, what they require to start a relationship and how you will monitor and gage their interest in purchasing, win big.

Second, that by applying new tools to help in this journey, you help your business achieve digital transformation is a very real way. Digital transformation is not about applying technology to a manual process. It’s about seeing how today’s buyer wants to do business and supporting them with tools that will help you be more competitive than ever before.

I loved my cassette deck, especially the Black Crowes on cassette. But now I appreciate how great they sound on Google Play. Today, it’s great to think of a song one minute and be listening to it the next because you “Asked Alexa.” Today, think about how much more competitive and strong your business will be when you transform your marketing function and use lead generation and nurturing tools designed for today’s audience. I’m sure the Black Crowes never imagined in 1990 when they released “Shake your Money Maker”, that 28 years later the transformation of the music industry would mean that they would never have to put out another album again yet still be making money because of new access to music. What can you do today to create long-term transformational value for your business? It’s time to shake up your money maker…